Lectin from Pisum fulvum Seeds as in vitro Anticancer and Apoptotic Gene Regulator

The lectins are non-immune origin carbohydrate-binding proteins. Plant�s lectins are distributed in many species of medicinal plants, family Fabaceae. In this study the safety usage pattern of wild Pisum fulvum lectin was evaluated on different mammalian noncancerous cell types and the anticancer activity was examined on different cancer human cell lines: colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2), hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), breast cancer cells (MCF7) and laryngeal carcinoma (Hep-2 cells). Moreover, both morphological and molecular evidence of apoptosis have been detected using both acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EB) stain and RT-qPCR. The results revealed that IC50 of the wild lectin on the noncancerous cells ranged from 19.7 to 2.4 �g protein/mL. In addition, lectin was more potent against HepG2 cells than the other used cells, with inhibition percentages ranged from 68.45 to 90.98 and with cancer cell selectivity index ranged 3.5 to 28.14. The treatment showed 67.6% inhibition of BrdU incorporation in the proliferated hepatocellular carcinoma cells. Furthermore, HepG2-lectin treated cells showed obvious nuclear condensation after 48 h of treatment with ability to down-regulate the expression of BCL2 and BAX and to up-regulate the expression of Ikab gene. The results obtained in this research work clearly indicated the Pisum fulvum lectin could be a promising potential anticancer agent.

Determination of morphological variability of different pisum genotypes using principal component analysis

The aim of the study was to evaluate the variation among some Pisum genotypes using principal component analysis technique. The plant material covering wild pea accessions (Pisum fulvum L., P. abyssinicum L., P. sativum var. elatius), local varieties (P. sativum var. sativum L. and P. sativum var. arvense L.) and two commercial varieties were evaluated for 50 morphological traits. According to results, the first eleven principal component with Eigenvalues >1 contributed % 96.95 of the variability. The percentages of cumulative variation accounted for by each of the four principal component are 33.14%, 48.72%, 58.65%, and 66.88% respectively. Based on the principal coordinate analysis, five major groups were formed. In general, the diagram represented an obvious division between taxonomic groups except for P. sativum var. sativum and P. sativum var. arvense accessions.

The Temperature Response and Aggressiveness of Peyronellaea pinodes Isolates Originating from Wild and Domesticated Pisum sp. in Israel

Domesticated pea fields are grown in relatively close proximity to wild pea species in Israel. Despite the major role attributed to ascochyta blight in causing yield losses in domesticated pea, very limited information is available on the pathogens prevailing in natural ecosystems. The objectives of this study were (i) to identify the species causing ascochyta blight symptoms on leaves, stems, and petioles of domesticated pea and wild Pisum plants in Israel, and (ii) to quantify the temperature response(s) and aggressiveness of such pathogens originating from Pisum plants growing in sympatric and allopatric contexts. Eighteen fungal isolates were examined and identified; three of them were sampled from Pisum sativum, 11 from Pisum fulvum, and four from Pisum elatius. All isolates were identified as Peyronellaea pinodes. Spore germination and mycelial growth took place over a wide range of temperatures, the lower and upper cardinal temperatures being 2 to 9 and 33 to 38°C, respectively; the optimal temperatures ranged from 22 to 26°C. At an optimal temperature, disease severity was significantly higher for plants maintained under moist conditions for 24 h postinoculation than for those exposed to humidity for 5 or 10 h. Analyses of the data revealed that temperature responses, spore germination rates, and aggressiveness of isolates sampled from domesticated pea plants did not differ from those of isolates sampled from adjacent or distant wild populations. Host specificity was not observed. These observations suggest that Israel may be inhabited by a single metapopulation of P. pinodes.